February 16, 2018: Facebook announced on January 11th that it was changing its newsfeed to serve users more content from their close connections (friends and family) and less content from publishers and brands, or as Hootsuite put it: “News feeds will likely start to show more pictures of your uncle’s dog and fewer Buzzfeed listicles.” As...

February 16, 2018: Facebook announced on January 11th that it was changing its newsfeed to serve users more content from their close connections (friends and family) and less content from publishers and brands, or as Hootsuite put it: “News feeds will likely start to show more pictures of your uncle’s dog and fewer Buzzfeed listicles.”

As the Facebook algorithm change rolls out over the next few months, businesses will likely see a significant decrease in organic reach, and users will probably spend less time on the platform itself, although the hope, according to Mark Zuckerberg, is that the time on the platform will be “well spent.”

Reactions to this news ran the gamut from panicked: “Organic reach is dead,” (Digiday) to celebratory: “If you’re an influencer, you just leveled up further.” (Forbes)

Because Facebook is prioritizing “people content,” influencer content won’t be curbed in the same way as brand-supplied content.

Back in October 2017, Facebook tested a new format for its Newsfeed, which removed content posted by pages (including publishers) from the Newsfeed and moved them to a new “Explore” Feed. One small publisher in Slovakia reported that while the country’s big newspapers and media companies fared better, small publishers had seen the organic reach of some of their Facebook pages fall by two-thirds. Facebook interactions, such as likes and shares, were down by a factor of four.

So what does this mean moving forward? How can brands adapt?

1. Consider Facebook a pay-to-play platform

“Brands already know that they get little visibility from unpaid content on Facebook,” Brittany Richter, head of social media for iProspect, told Digiday. Most brand content on Facebook is in the form of posts that don’t necessarily show up on a company page and are distributed through ad filters, and ad ranking won’t change under the new algorithm, although CPM rates for new ads may rise. Facebook’s change will force brands and companies to create more content that their audience cares about.

2. Invest in strategic relationships with influencers

While it’s unclear if or how Facebook plans to regulate influencers, the platform still treats them as individual users and not businesses (no matter how massive they are). Because Facebook is prioritizing “people content,” influencer content won’t be curbed in the same way as content directly from brands. Companies that strategically partner with influencers can continue to reach their target audience, with added credibility coming from influencers whose image and activities genuinely align with those of the brand. According to Andrew Burgess, CEO/Co-Founder of UGC Factory, “The best type of influencer is the one who is already a loyal customer of your brand. When they promote products or services from your brand it’s more authentic because their social followers know that the influencer already loves your products. The best part is that you won’t have to put in too much effort to convince them to become your brand advocates.” A study by Cohn & Wolfe found that “64% of consumers would buy from a company they consider to be authentic over and above competitors,” so while partnering with a mega influencer might yield the biggest reach, partnering with an influencer who has a smaller reach, but more brand alignment will be more effective.

3. Don’t put all your marketing eggs in one basket

This isn’t the first time Facebook has changed its algorithm and forced content creators, brands, and news outlets to change their strategies.

“Entire business models have risen and fallen with Facebook’s tweaks to its opaque algorithm: First, companies chased Facebook virality, regardless of the content of their articles; then, they made videos specifically to chase engagement on Facebook’s newsfeed; then, Facebook prioritized live videos which, in one case led to a Washington Post journalist literally eating his newspaper article on camera (later, the company would pay media companies to make these videos, a program it quickly dropped). Serious reporting and journalism became “content” subject to A/B testing and paid promotion. Small changes to the news feed would make the views on our articles rise and fall.”

It’s important for companies and brands to use a diverse portfolio of marketing and communications to maintain their brand image, reach their audience, cultivate interest in their products and services, and generate sales. The best way to hedge against future uncertainty (Facebook changes, Google changes, etc.) is to use a blend of traditional and digital marketing tactics, such as direct mail, PPC, SEO, content marketing, social media marketing, and PR.

You wouldn’t put all of your investment eggs in one basket, and you shouldn’t do the same with your marketing dollars.

February 15, 2018: The “10 blue links paradigm” traditionally used by search engines is being augmented by a new model in which users speak commands, questions, and queries to smart devices that understand their speech and can respond intelligently to their queries. Voice search-capable devices include smart phones equipped with software from Google or Apple,...

February 15, 2018: The “10 blue links paradigm” traditionally used by search engines is being augmented by a new model in which users speak commands, questions, and queries to smart devices that understand their speech and can respond intelligently to their queries. Voice search-capable devices include smart phones equipped with software from Google or Apple, and smart speakers such as Amazon’s Echo and Alexa. Currently there are estimated to be at least half a billion devices capable of supporting this new kind of search, and the number is growing rapidly as smart, voice search-capable speakers march into the home.

If your websites are already optimized for Hummingbird, you won’t have to reinvent the wheel for Voice Search.

As a digital marketer you probably are wondering what this evolution means to you, your websites, or your clients’ web sites. So here’s a quick guide to getting ready for voice search:

1. Search for yourself (and your competitors) using a voice search-capable device. You’ve probably done extensive research on how your competitors are ranking for business-driving keywords on desktop SERPs. But how are they ranking on mobile devices using simple conversational queries? Researching their visibility (or lack thereof) for a variety of conversational queries can give you valuable insight into what you must do to rank with your own content.

2. Build on what you have. The advent of voice search doesn’t mean re-building your web properties from scratch. If you’re already adhering to good SEO practices, especially in relation to optimizing your site for Hummingbird, Google’s 2013 algorithm update, and in terms of your site being mobile-friendly, you’ll be in a good position to exploit voice search. Hummingbird, as you’ll recall, represented a major advance for Google in terms of being able to better able to understand the implicit meaning of the kind of short-string queries typically made from mobile devices, including voice queries. So if your properties are already optimized for Hummingbird, you won’t have to reinvent the wheel for Voice Search.

3. Create “conversational content.” Try to put yourself in a voice searcher’s shoes in terms of how he/she might phrase a spoken query for which you hope to be relevant. Create content that’s likely to rank for such specific conversational queries. A site such as answerthepublic.com provides an excellent tool for creating conversational content focusing on the operators Who, What, When, Where, and Why. Use the results to create one or more FAQs about your company and its products. These FAQs can exists as pages on your site, or even blog pages – the important thing is that they’re spiderable. Alternately, pose as a reporter and interview some of the people who make your organization tick. Obviously, your CEO and other C-suite personnel can be sources for these interviews, but don’t stop there. People with deep, granular knowledge of the mechanics of your company’s products, e.g. your CTO, head of operations, Chief Engineer, and other detail-aware people can be great sources for generating data-rich, conversational content.

4. Create local content. “Near me” searches (“pizza near me,” “plumbers near me,” “ad agencies on Long Island” etc.) use geography (of both the user and sites eligible for listing) as a filter and they’re growing more than 100 percent per year. So it’s key that Google have accurate and specific knowledge about where exactly you are. This process begins with making sure that your location(s) is correctly entered and verified via Google My Business, but don’t stop there. Create a body of original content focused on your location: its landmarks, community resources, and history that makes it clear that your local roots are deep.

5. Work on site speed and access.Google’s mobile-friendly algorithm update of 2015 put site proprietors on notice that performance – especially on mobile devices – was a key ranking factor, and that’s doubly true in the era of voice search. Technical optimization is never fun (especially if it means upgrading your ISP, hosting provider, or server hardware), but you can’t afford to have your site suffer from poorly-optimized Javascript, CSS, or caching issues.

Typed queries will be with us for some time ahead. But voice-powered search query volume is growing rapidly. According to Comscore, by 2020, 50 percent of all searches performed will be voice searches. That’s why it’s important for you to take steps – right now – to make sure that your business site has a fair chance achieving visibility (and audibility) in the voice query stream.

Mineola, NY – January 10, 2018 – Didit, a fully integrated marketing and communications firm, headquartered in Mineola, New York, announced that Sales Executive Peter Stein was appointed to Co-President of the Social Media Association, located on Long Island, NY, alongside Julie Allegretti of Stony Brook University’s Center for Biotechnology, on January 1, 2018. As...

Mineola, NY – January 10, 2018 – Didit, a fully integrated marketing and communications firm, headquartered in Mineola, New York, announced that Sales Executive Peter Stein was appointed to Co-President of the Social Media Association, located on Long Island, NY, alongside Julie Allegretti of Stony Brook University’s Center for Biotechnology, on January 1, 2018.

As co-presidents, Peter, of Kings Park, and Julie, of Seaford, will be responsible for arranging and setting up events, meeting with potential speakers and sponsors, maintaining and expanding membership, and coordinating board members’ responsibilities. They will look to reach new business professionals in Nassau and Suffolk counties. Along with their fellow officers, they will also be responsible for carrying out the organization’s mission of “informing, inspiring, and empowering business through social, digital, and future media.”

“I am excited to collaborate with Peter as co-president to move forward with the organization and its mission,” said Julie. “It is paramount for businesses to utilize social media platforms to reach a wide variety of people in a short amount of time. It helps build and maintain relationships with clients by fostering communication. Social media is a convenient, efficient and cost effective way to connect with consumers to share new ideas, products, and promotions”

“It is an honor to have been appointed to co-president alongside Julie,” said Peter. “I take pride in this organization and look forward to bringing my expertise to the table in this new role. This will be a great year for us with many exciting things to come.”

In terms of their goals for 2018, Julie and Peter plan to help increase membership by hosting more engaging and informative events throughout Long Island. They will also identify new methods to engage millennials to participate and join SMA as these individuals will bring a new perspective and energy to the organization.

At Didit, Peter holds a key position in managing the various revenue enhancing opportunities and possesses a wealth of experience in business development, relationship building, networking and direct and strategic marketing.

Julie’s previous experience as Co-Vice President of SMA has uniquely prepared her for this position, along with her knowledge of social media platforms, event planning and networking skills.

The pair held their first board meeting the morning of January 11, 2018, and will run their first educational event on January 25, 2018, titled, “What to Expect in Marketing in 2018.” The event will be held at Blue Ocean Wealth Solutions in East Hills from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. For more information, please visit http://socialmediaassoc.com/events/.

About Didit

Founded in 1996, Didit is a fully integrated marketing and communications firm, with offices in Manhattan; Mineola, Long Island; and Waltham, Massachusetts, as well as a direct marketing division Didit DM in Plainview, LI. Recognized as an Inc. 500, Deloitte Fast 50 and Fast 500 company, Didit is a privately-held industry pioneer that offers an unparalleled range of marketing, public relations and digital services, from “postcard to post-click.” The agency’s experienced professionals, innovative strategy, best-of-breed technology and advanced analytics provide a fully comprehensive marketing approach to businesses, delivering unmatched results for more than 200 clients across all verticals. Didit was co-founded by SEO/SEM thought leader, SEMPO founding board member, and Didit Executive Chairman Kevin Lee. For more information, visit http://www.didit.com/.

About Social Media Association
SMA brings together the media community both online and offline. Our members are forward-thinking people interested in business and media innovation. Social Media Association is comprised of entrepreneurs, business owners, managers, influencers and strategic decision makers. The goal is a non-competitive environment to learn, share and have fun together: informing, inspiring, and empowering business through social, digital, and future media. For more information, visit www.socialmediaassoc.com

Mineola, NY – October 25, 2017 – Didit, an integrated marketing and communications agency headquartered in Mineola, New York, is pleased to announce today the promotion of two longtime employees at the firm. Eric Wiggins, of Port Jefferson Station, has been promoted to Senior Vice President. Previously, he served as Vice President of Client Services....

Mineola, NY – October 25, 2017 – Didit, an integrated marketing and communications agency headquartered in Mineola, New York, is pleased to announce today the promotion of two longtime employees at the firm. Eric Wiggins, of Port Jefferson Station, has been promoted to Senior Vice President. Previously, he served as Vice President of Client Services. In his new role, Eric will oversee the Account Services and Paid Search Marketing teams, as well as continue to be an integral team member in business development efforts. Jennifer Cohen, of New Hyde Park, was promoted from Director of Search Marketing to Vice President of Digital Strategy. In her new role, Jennifer will be responsible for creating and implementing the strategy behind digital marketing programs and campaigns for Didit’s B2B and B2C clients.

“We are proud of Eric and Jennifer’s work performance and dedication at Didit and look forward to seeing them take on their respective roles,” said Dave Pasternack, chief executive officer and co-founder of Didit. “Eric is the true definition of a team player with a can-do attitude. He has always been viewed as a leader with a positive outlook, fostering strong relationships and exuding a genuineness that is rare to find in any industry. Jennifer is an industry thought leader and will be a client advocate for new digital technologies, platforms and programs. Her superior communication and analytical skills will serve her well in this new role. Eric and Jennifer’s combined skillsets and talent in these new positions will serve as a significant asset to our clients, by providing them with the best solutions for their business.”

During Eric’s more than 11 year tenure at Didit, he has served many roles within the company. Starting in the Client Services department, he then parlayed that experience to a position within the Business Development department. Eric’s historical knowledge of Didit’s evolution, strong communication and analytical skills enable him to tell a story that resonates with prospects and clients. He has worked very closely with senior management to make internal and external decisions that have had a positive impact on the agency.

Jennifer will reach her 10-year milestone at Didit in November. After graduating college, she joined the agency’s Client Services department as Account Coordinator, and has assumed several roles through promotions within the department. With unwavering dedication and commitment to her work, Jennifer has been responsible for the success of many premier paid search marketing clients, who have then gone on and referred additional business. She will also support new business and account management in a sales consultant role.

About Didit
Founded in 1996, Didit is an integrated communications firm and privately-held industry pioneer that provides an unparalleled range of traditional and digital marketing, advertising, public relations, and search engine services, from “postcard to post-click.” Didit’s offices are in Manhattan; Mineola, Long Island; and Waltham, Massachusetts, with a direct marketing division, Didit DM, in Plainview, Long Island. Recognized as an Inc. 500, Deloitte Fast 50 and Fast 500 Company, the agency’s experienced professionals, innovative strategy, best-of-breed technology, and advanced analytics deliver unmatched results for more than 200 B2B and B2C clients across all verticals, in all trade classes. With its roots in search engine marketing, Didit was co-founded by digital media thought leaders: Kevin Lee and David Pasternack, a serial entrepreneur. Didit was ranked as the 58th largest independent marketing company worldwide in 2016 by AdAge. For more information, visit http://www.didit.com/.

Press Release: Mineola, NY – October 19, 2017 – Integrated marketing and communications agency Didit, headquartered in Mineola, New York, announces today the hiring of seasoned and accomplished advertising and sales executive Jamie Allen, of West Islip, as its General Manager of the agency’s Automotive Marketing Division. With more than 15 years of dedicated experience...

Press Release:Mineola, NY – October 19, 2017 – Integrated marketing and communications agency Didit, headquartered in Mineola, New York, announces today the hiring of seasoned and accomplished advertising and sales executive Jamie Allen, of West Islip, as its General Manager of the agency’s Automotive Marketing Division. With more than 15 years of dedicated experience within the national and local automotive sector, Mr. Allen will leverage his knowledge and skillsets to build both a high-performance day-to-day team at Didit and connections with businesses looking to advance their brand; develop innovative strategies and implementations to drive clients’ revenue growth; and tap into Didit’s digital experience and national reach to offer solutions for the region’s franchise dealers.

“With an impressive range of capabilities, Jamie’s combined skillsets, business acumen and devotion to his work will allow him to serve as an integral leader in taking our auto marketing division to the next level,” said Dave Pasternack, chief executive officer and co-founder of Didit. “Due to the changing communications landscape, including the prominence of digital marketing, we have found that several local auto dealerships and related entities are looking for ways to successfully revamp their traditional marketing programs. With Jamie’s type of experience, we are confident that he will meet this need by implementing results-based auto marketing campaigns and building valuable relationships with our prospects and clients.”

Within his versatile career, Mr. Allen possesses a wide breadth of experience in the automotive, retail, finance, luxury, healthcare and education sectors. At Newsday Media Group, he held multiple roles over a 26-year span, including automotive sales executive, successfully negotiating a $3.2M contract with General Motors (a first-of-its-kind for Newsday Media Group); automotive manager; automotive advertising director; retail/automotive digital sales senior director; and advertising sales vice president. Some of his highlights while working at Newsday include: developing a multimedia automotive portal featuring search technology that connected buyers with franchise dealerships, being named 2008 Sales Manager of the Year and 2004 National Sales Executive of the Year. His career also consisted of holding the position of advertising and marketing vice president at the following companies: CPA Direct in Wantagh, Hotel Interactive in Huntington, and KZS Austin Advertising in Hauppauge.“I am thrilled to serve as General Manager to build out this exciting marketing vertical,” said Mr. Allen. “We are at the forefront of an industry on Long Island that is a strong commuter market, with high sales volume, and some of the largest dealerships in the country. This is the perfect time for us to lend our multi-platform expertise so that they can receive the most relevant exposure possible among the right targets in order to drive their sales.”

Mr. Allen also commented, “I admire Didit’s sophistication in their go-to-market strategy compared to other agencies and look forward to the opportunity to work with their talented team of professionals, who possess a passion for innovative ideas to help brands move the needle.”

About Didit
Founded in 1996, Didit is an integrated communications firm and privately-held industry pioneer that provides an unparalleled range of traditional and digital marketing, advertising, public relations, and search engine services, from “postcard to post-click.” Didit’s offices are in Manhattan; Mineola, Long Island; and Waltham, Massachusetts, with a direct marketing division, Didit DM, in Plainview, Long Island. Recognized as an Inc. 500, Deloitte Fast 50 and Fast 500 Company, the agency’s experienced professionals, innovative strategy, best-of-breed technology, and advanced analytics deliver unmatched results for more than 200 B2B and B2C clients across all verticals, in all trade classes. With its roots in search engine marketing, Didit was co-founded by digital media thought leaders: Kevin Lee and David Pasternack, a serial entrepreneur. Didit was ranked as the 58th largest independent marketing company worldwide in 2016 by AdAge. For more information, visit http://www.didit.com/.

October 15, 2017: Every business with a social media presence wants to create content that’s widely shared. Each year, big brands spend millions of dollars on “viral marketing” experts whose jobs are to create edgy, viral campaigns, the vast majority of which flop instead of soaring. “Viral marketing specialists” lurk by the dozens on sites such as...

October 15, 2017: Every business with a social media presence wants to create content that’s widely shared. Each year, big brands spend millions of dollars on “viral marketing” experts whose jobs are to create edgy, viral campaigns, the vast majority of which flop instead of soaring. “Viral marketing specialists” lurk by the dozens on sites such as Upwork.com and Fiverr.com, hoping to score projects with small businesses seeking greater content virality. Others write books, give lectures, and bestow “viral content secrets” to those willing to pay to learn them.

The truth is that there’s no “secret” to creating sharable content. There are, however, some reliable principles — many derived from psychology — that you can employ to maximize the chance that your content will be passed from one social media user to another.

The Role of EmotionDr. Allison Kahner, a Scarsdale, NY-based Clinical Psychologist, believes that Ludwig Wittgenstein’s famous observation that “words are like the film on deep water” applies directly to the problem of viral content marketing. “The messaging that people receive on social media is rarely examined beyond its overt form, in other words, its surface appearance as text, images, and the particular juxtaposition of those elements generating its conscious meaning to any particular recipient. The far more interesting question is to examine how successful viral content engages our subconscious through the mechanism of emotion – our “gut,” not just our conscious mind.”

This powerful link between emotion and viral sharing was recently validated by two Wharton School researchers, Jonah Berger and Katherine L. Milkman, who in 2011 conducted a controlled study to specifically examine the role emotion plays in shaping the social transmission of Web-based content. For three months, they studied the articles on the New York Times site that were passed around most often via e-mail and social posts. Some 7,000 articles were examined, and the tips below owe much to their original research in the psychology of viral content marketing.

Make it happy. Content that’s either happy or “feel good” is much more likely to be passed around than content that makes people sad, concerned, or depressed. Social media is an environment that thrives largely on positivity. People that feel positively about the content of your post will be more inclined to take action than those viewing a sad or depressing post (because who in the world wants to be known as a source of sadness?).

Make it awesome. Social media content that creates a sense of “awe” (for example, a truly mind-bending statistic or incredible image from science or the arts) are highly share-worthy. People enjoy passing around content that establishes themselves as purveyors of unconventional, novel, and mind-bending experiences. The state of “awe” is one that is highly conducive to pressing on the “send,” “forward,” or “retweet” buttons.

Make it fearsome. Fear is another fundamental emotional basis of shareworthy content across many sites and channels. Anxiety generates interest and also the possibility of agency on the part of the message recipient in terms of personally taking steps to counter the feared event (perhaps by contributing money via a crowd-sourced funding site or by signing an online petition). Fear is a high-activation state governed by the amygdala (otherwise known as “the reptilian brain”), and there is some evidence that the simple act of sharing decreases the instantaneous level of anxiety experienced by the initial reader of the post.

Make it angry. Like social media content that activates fear in the mind of the recipient, posts that identify some wrong to be righted in the world or in a local community have a good chance of being passed on. Anger, like fear, is a “hot” emotion that is more likely to get someone to press the “forward” button than content that’s cooler, more contemplative, or more nuanced. (Many online sites, including Daily Kos and Newsmax, are masters at creating this kind of viral content).

Make it surprising. Surprise is one of the reasons why sites like Buzzfeed, Daily Dot, and Upworthy are able to stay at the top of the content game. Surprising content is shared because people view the emotion of surprise as a “gift” to be shared. (A credible claim can be made that that our entire society has, thanks to Twitter, Facebook, and Google, become completely addicted to the experience of being continually surprised by unexpected events).

Make it useful.“How to” content will be passed along provided that it isn’t derivative or so obvious that the viewer’s internal emotional reaction is “ho-hum.” Think about the problems that your audience is facing, and develop content that’s truly useful. Even better, poll your audience on issues that are vexing to them, and develop content based on their concerns. While the emotional valence (intensity) of “how to” content is much lower than content designed to generate fear, shock, or surprise, it’s less likely to cause the kind of negative blowback that can arise when a viral campaign mistakenly pushes the wrong emotional buttons (for example, by publishing content intended to be “happy” which inadvertently causes anger, shock, or fear).

September 27, 2017: Twitter’s announcement Tuesday night that it was experimentally upping its 140 character limit to 280 characters prompted much speculation about what this change means to the future of the service and how it will impact the jobs of social media marketers, managers, and influencers active on the service. Didit CEO Kevin Lee...

September 27, 2017: Twitter’s announcement Tuesday night that it was experimentally upping its 140 character limit to 280 characters prompted much speculation about what this change means to the future of the service and how it will impact the jobs of social media marketers, managers, and influencers active on the service.

Didit CEO Kevin Lee commented that currently “many advertisers aren’t comfortable boiling their messages to the bare minimum,” and predicted that Twitter’s new character limit will give advertisers greater flexibility to message. This may ultimately help to boost Twitter’s anemic advertising revenues, which have taken a hit in 2017 even as rival Facebook’s ad revenue continues to rise.

Without the 140-character limit, marketers may quickly lapse into lazy, rambling, adjective-laden prose that fails to resonate with audiences

Twitter’s change will also presumably make the lives of social media managers easier, given that when scheduling posts for multi-network social blasts, they must routinely create two sets of messages — an abbreviated 140-character string for Twitter, and a longer text string for Facebook.

How this change will affect the actual quality of content on Twitter can’t be known at this point. One major benefit of Twitter’s old hard 140-character limit is that it forced marketers and influencers to create tight, focused messages and explicit calls to action, a modern manifestation of the established creative principle that “limits set you free.” Without these limits, marketers may quickly lapse into lazy, rambling, adjective-laden prose that fails to resonate with their target audiences.

Another longer-term risk for Twitter, is that by removing one of the most established, distinctive feature of its service, its differentiation against Facebook – already blurred by Twitter’s very Facebook-like visual presentation — may be further weakened in the minds of users. One can even speculate that a competing short-form messaging network — retaining the 140-character limit — might be launched against Twitter to specifically cater to the needs of the millions of users who’ve grown happy using Twitter’s tried and true short-form format and don’t see any reason to change it.

MINEOLA, NY — July 11, 2017 —Mineola-based fully integrated marketing and communications agency, Didit, announced today that it hired marketing industry veteran John P. Platé as Vice President of Fulfillment Services for its direct marketing division in Plainview, Didit DM. Mr. Platé, of Quogue, is a lifelong entrepreneur who has created businesses both in and...

MINEOLA, NY — July 11, 2017 —Mineola-based fully integrated marketing and communications agency, Didit, announced today that it hired marketing industry veteran John P. Platé as Vice President of Fulfillment Services for its direct marketing division in Plainview, Didit DM. Mr. Platé, of Quogue, is a lifelong entrepreneur who has created businesses both in and outside of the direct marketing industry.

Prior to joining Didit DM, Mr. Platé was the co-founder and president of The CPW Group, based in Bohemia, NY and prior to that time, he spent seven years managing the computer mailing operation for a large, national, full-service mail house. In 1978, he founded The New Generation Smokery, an international producer and wholesaler of smoked fish and caviar. In 2011, he was inducted into the Direct Marketing Association of Long Island Hall of Fame.

Mr. Platé will oversee Didit DM’s fulfillment services team, and will leverage his varied experience in client services, and the development of new fulfillment projects. “I look to bring enhanced stability and dependability to an industry that has so many possibilities,” said Mr. Platé. “I am eager to work alongside such a talented team.”

Under his leadership, Didit DM will continue to create synergies between its traditional direct marketing services and the forward-thinking digital strategy of its parent company and marketing/public relations firm, Didit. This concerted effort helps to meet the marketing and communications needs of today’s clients, while staying in sync with changing business and industry trends.

“Having worked with a broad spectrum of clients, John is recognized by his peers for his ability to combine strategic vision with standardized processes and ensure that even the most complex fulfillment projects are completed to clients’ exact needs,” said Dave Pasternack, chief executive officer and co-founder of Didit. “John’s diverse business experience has given him a keen sense of ingenuity and exceptional leadership and management skills. He will be a welcome addition to our solid team of marketing professionals.”

About Didit

Founded in 1996, Didit is a fully integrated marketing and communications firm, with offices in Manhattan; Mineola, Long Island; and Waltham, Massachusetts, as well as a direct marketing division Didit DM in Plainview, LI. Recognized as an Inc. 500, Deloitte Fast 50 and Fast 500 company, Didit is a privately-held industry pioneer that offers an unparalleled range of marketing, public relations and digital services, from “postcard to post-click.” The agency’s experienced professionals, innovative strategy, best-of-breed technology and advanced analytics provide a fully comprehensive marketing approach to businesses, delivering unmatched results for more than 200 clients across all verticals. Didit was co-founded by SEO/SEM thought leader, SEMPO founding board member, and Didit Executive Chairman Kevin Lee. For more information, visit http://www.didit.com/.

On June 21st, Didit CEO Kevin Lee moderated a diverse panel titled “Hyperlocal Marketing for Brands — What’s Working Now?” that brought together several marketers exploring opportunities using hyperlocal targeting. Participants include Adi Pal, Founder, Mash + Grape, a “bricks to clicks” wine and spirits retailer, Jake Davidow, Media Buyer for JP Morgan Chase, and Belén Aranda-Alvarado, Director of Digital Marketing and E-commerce, at The Wildlife Conservation Society. The panel was hosted by StreetFightMag.com, a media organization whose mission statement is to “follow the dynamic disruption taking place in the local marketing ecosystem.”

The power of layering location data on top of other marketing data was stressed by all the panel participants. “Location as a signal of the moment that somebody is in and the mindset that they’re in is very exciting,” said Mr. Davidow. “So much of advertising is really just broadcasting, getting your message in front of people when they’re not in the moment, and there’s a lot of clutter. What location does it allows you to talk to somebody whilst they’re trying to solve a problem.”

Other hot topics discussed include app strategy, the use of location-specific promotional codes, and the resurgence – within a hyperlocal context — of marketing channels once thought of as “old school.” Ms. Aranda-Alvarado observed that while apps play an important role in her organization’s marketing plans, email remains a vital, relevant channel. Mr. Lee noted that direct mail – when overlaid with digital data, including personalized URLs and promo codes, can be transformed into a virtually “friction free” marketing channel delivering materially superior conversion rates.

June 6, 2017: This past week, the good folks over at Ahrefs.com published a mammoth study on Featured Snippets, a particular type of organic listing that Google may display for selected queries. As Google explains in its Search Console Help area, Featured Snippets are “extracted programmatically from what a visitor sees on your web page,”...

Ahrefs.com’s results validate the general proposition that providing content that can generate Featured Snippets may improve the likelihood of achieving greater exposure on SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages).

Here are 3 things that should be of key interest – and, perhaps, even inspiration — to digital marketers, content marketers, digital PR professionals, and others engaged in the production of content whose primary consumers are intended to be search engine users:

1. Featured snippets steal clicks from top-ranking organic results

Even if you can’t expect to obtain a #1 listing for a power keyword phrase, you can steal clicks from your competition using a featured snippet

Ahrefs.com determined that if the link to your website happens to be #1 on the SERP, you can expect to get about 26 percent of the clicks from that SERP. But when a snippet appears above the #1 listing, it will steal a significant number of clicks from the #1 listing. According to ahrefs.com, “when there’s a featured snippet at the #1 position, it only gets ~8.6% of clicks (on average), while the page that ranks right below it will get ~19.6% of clicks (on average).

Marketers, take heed: even if you can’t expect to obtain a #1 listing for a power keyword phrase, you can steal clicks from your competition using one or more Featured Snippets. This is great news for those engaged in tight battles for organic SERP position.

2. Your content doesn’t have to be popular to earn a Featured Snippet

While Ahref.com’s researchers expected that the appearance of Featured Snippets would correlate strongly with keyword search volume, it found the opposite: that the majority of Featured Snippets were generated by low-volume, long-tail searches.

This is excellent news for digital marketers, particularly content marketers in niches for which there is a limited volume of queries, and, as Ahref.com notes, supports the proposition that well-written, granular, and authoritative content matters: “if you stick to writing detailed in-depth articles that fill all possible blank spots that people might have, you’re increasing your chances to rank for a bunch of long-tail featured snippets.”

3. YouTube is in the mix and YouTube metadata counts

YouTube is a great place to get your content indexed, “snippetized,” and out in front of searchers. Pay attention to your YouTube descriptions and other metadata

Many marketers make the mistake of believing that YouTube is just a place for videos. However, each of the videos on YouTube is accompanied by a potentially rich corpus of metadata (descriptions, tags, etc.) that Google needs to determine what any given video asset is actually about. Ahref.com’s researchers were surprised by the frequency with which textual content on YouTube appeared in Featured Snippets. As they noted, “Google is happy to feature the descriptions of relevant YouTube videos, even when they are just a few sentences long”

The lesson for digital marketers here is clear: YouTube is a great place to get your content indexed, “snippetized,” and out in front of searchers. Pay as much attention to your YouTube descriptions and metadata as you do when you publish content to your website!

Getting snippets to work for you

Ahref.com’s findings – and earlier work done by Stone Temple Consulting’s Eric Enge — support the importance of Featured Snippets as a key mechanism for gaining entry into Google’s Knowledge Vault, and validate the proposition that great content, properly structured, is an effective tool – even for B2B – where search query may be low.

As we advised last year, “you should be using structured data on all of your pages, posts, and other content living on the web. One advantage of using WordPress as a CMS (Content Management System) is the ease with which structured data can be applied via a choice of plug-ins. While your human readers might not appreciate the care with which you format your pages, search engines will, which makes it a no-brainer. Just remember that Google wants you to use structured data to describe what’s on your page – not attempt to lure searchers into exploring it when it’s irrelevant to their query.”